Zambian striker beats Lionel Messi with record 107 goals in a calendar year

Goal hero: Lionel Messi has had his record pinched by an unknown Zambian striker (Picture: AP)

News that Lionel Messi broke Gerd Mueller’s record of goals scored in a calendar year has received short shrift in Zambia.

Messi passed the legendary German’s tally earlier this week when his two goals against Real Betis took his total to 87, overtaking a record that has stood since 1972.

However, the Zambian FA claim one of their own strikers Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu scored a remarkable 107 goals in the same year as Mueller but his feat was not recognised outside of his homeland.

A Zambian official said: ‘While Messi’s record is there, while Mueller’s record is there, the actual record holder in terms of goals per calendar year is actually an African, it’s actually Godfrey Chitalu.

‘We have this record, which has been recorded in Zambian football, but unfortunately it has not been recorded in world football. Even as the world has been looking at Lionel Messi’s record, breaking Gerd Müller’s, the debate and discussion back here has been why Godfrey’s goals are not being recognised.’

‘What we are doing is, we have commissioned an independent team locally to go back into the archives and record minute-by-minute each of those goals. The team that we have put together is going to calculate all of those goals, recording whichever game or tournament they were scored in.’

Fifa says it had heard of Chitalu’s claim and is ‘checking on it internally’.